This invention relates to the field of aircraft and more specifically, to a fixed-wing aircraft having VTOL capability.
Long ground trips through congested freeways to crowded airports having sold-out parking are a fact of life for passengers making use of the current aviation industry at the present time. Add to this the inefficiencies of handling large numbers of passengers and luggage further acts to increase the cost in time, money and the attendant irritation factors.
An apparatus and method is described that offers an aircraft the high speed/low drag advantages of conventional fixed wing aircraft with the Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) ability of rotational wing (rotor) aircraft. The apparatus and method can allow an aircraft to achieve both a pure vertical and horizontal flight and with the capability to quickly transition between these two flight regimes.
The apparatus can be propelled in both rotary-wing and fixed-wing modes using a power source such as, for example, a conventional turbofan engine. A rotor such as a two-bladed rotor assembly can be used to generate the required lift for hover, vertical movement, and low-speed forward flight like a helicopter. Once the aircraft is at a sufficient forward velocity, lift from the rotor blade assembly can be removed with lift being provided by the fixed wings, such as, for example, a main wing and a horizontal tail wing. The rotating rotor blade assembly can then be stopped and locked into a position that has the rotor blades aligned along the length of the fuselage.
After the rotor assembly is locked in this longitudinal direction, the rotor blade assembly can be stowed in a housing that encapsulates the rotor blade assembly. The fixed-wings then provide the lift in a conventional fixed-wing flight mode. A reverse sequence of these events could transition the vehicle back to its rotary wing-VTOL mode for descent and landing on small landing areas.
Techniques for transitioning between vertical and horizontal flight requires coordination between the decrease of downward rotor thrust that dominates during the vertical flight regime with the increase in turbofan jet backward thrust used in the horizontal flight regime. Such coordination must occur progressively, incrementally, and smoothly and where the addition of an attitude control system, jet deflection vanes, and jet exhaust nozzles can add to the control of the transitioning flight regimes.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.
The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which:
FIG. 1A is an illustration of one embodiment of a hybrid VTOL aircraft in a vertical flight mode.
FIG. 1B is an illustration of an encapsulating housing in vertical the flight mode.
FIG. 2A is an illustration of one embodiment of the hybrid VTOL aircraft with a braked rotor blade assembly.
FIG. 2B is an illustration of the encapsulating housing with braked rotor blade assembly.
FIG. 3A is an illustration of one embodiment of the hybrid VTOL aircraft with a stowed rotor blade assembly.
FIG. 3B is an illustration of one embodiment of the encapsulating housing With stowed rotor blade assembly
FIG. 4A is an illustration of one embodiment of an external encapsulating housing with dual circular lids.
FIG. 4B is an illustration of one embodiment of a cross-section of the external encapsulating housing with dual circular lids.
FIG. 5A is an illustration of a cross section of a fuselage and encapsulating housing with clamshell lids.
FIG. 5B is an illustration of a hybrid VTOL aircraft with clamshell lids.
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method of use of a hybrid VTOL aircraft.
FIG. 7 is an illustration of an external encapsulating housing with three stacked rotor blade assemblies.
FIG. 8A is an illustration of one embodiment of a hybrid VTOL aircraft with a high-wing and an encapsulating housing integral to the high-wing and the fuselage.
FIG. 8B is an illustration of a top view of the one embodiment of the encapsulating housing integral to the high-wing and fuselage.
FIG. 9 is an illustration of one embodiment of an external encapsulating housing with an aerodynamically shaped interior surface.